Garner State Park | A Texas Family Tradition

The National Weather Service in Austin/San Antonio issues a flood warning at 8:20 PM Thursday, August 16, 2007. The flood warning included the following: Frio River, Hondo Creek and Sabinal where scattered showers and thunderstorms are forecast for the next 24-48 hours. Additional rainfall will likely change these river forecast levels.

• Flood warning for the frio river near derby.
• From Saturday morning to Tuesday morning…or until the warning is canceled.
• At 7:30 pm Thursday the stage was 2.1 feet.
• Moderate flooding is forecast.
• Flood stage is 6.0 feet.
• Forecast…rise above flood stage by late Saturday morning and continue to rise to near 12.4 feet by Sunday early afternoon. the river will fall below flood stage by Monday evening.
• Impact…at 14.0 feet…significant crop and pasture land flooding below Uvalde to Choke Canyon Reservoir floods oil well pump jacks…irrigation pumps and any equipment in the flood plain. Numerous secondary roads and low bridges are flooded. Livestock are cut off and potentially drowned in low areas of the flood plain.

For more detailed information visit the National Weather Service website for Concan.

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My neighbor who happens to be a manager out at the Bass Pro Shop in Grapevine was kind enough to pick up a couple of their Anti-Gravity Loungers (at 40% off). Starting August 23rd I’ll be spending 1/2 my time in one of these bad boys, and the other 1/2 in the Frio River.

I found some good videos today of Garner visitors swinging from a rope and jumping out of a tree from across from the rock beach. They reminded me of Brian, David and James who could always perform some nice rope acrobatics; then I thought about Kris Salas cursing in fear at the top of the tree for about 30 minutes when he was afraid to jump, that memory is as clear as if it happened yesterday. Have a look; you’ll get a laugh if you were there.

Hooray! We’ve got our spots reserved and we’ll officially be heading out for some R&R starting on Wednesday August 22nd. Thanks to an extended vacation for my father (90 days to be exact), we’ll be spending more time than had originally been planned and fortunately there was room available for the additional days. I will say that I was at Lake Mineral Wells State Park last weekend, and while the scenery is similary the enviroments no where close and of course there’s no Frio River.

Growing up during our trips to Garner I never quite understood why my father would put so much time and energy into spending an entire week in a lawn chair. We’d gather up all our gear, load it into the trailer and then caravan over 6 hours to spend the night waiting outside the old entry gate. Once we got inside, all the kids would slowly climb out of the vehicles, grab their bikes and head down to the Frio River. The adults in the group would spend a few more hours in the main entry gates waiting to choose their camping sites and on a good year we’d be just a stones throw away from the water.

Once inside, we’d spend the better part of the morning setting up our camp site and when we were done everyone would take a quick trip down to the water for some relaxation time. Outside of the occasional slow-moving-river-float, my dad would spend most of his time napping in a lawn chair. At the time I never understood why he felt so compelled and enjoyed just sitting there; now that I’m older it all makes perfect sense - Rest and Relaxation.

When you spend 50+ hours a week sweating through the grind, tack on a couple off days of running errands and honey-dews and you look forward to a couple days of doing nothing. While I don’t think I’ll ever put in the hours my dad has, and still does, I’ve grown very fond of sit and do nothing days. Around our house it’s a weekend trip here, a tee-ball game there, tack on some birthday parties and holidays and you’ve got a never ending cycle of things to do. So if you’re like me and the old man, schedule in some time for Garner State Park and the Frio River it’s a great place to do nothing.

Ahhhh Garner State Park. Although time and floods have changed its appearance the feeling of it still remains the same. The ownership may have changed and the jukebox may be updated but you still get that same feel when you drive up to the pavilion and step out of the truck to hear those first few notes of “Garner State Park” or “Blackland Farmer”. And then the smell of burgers hits your nose and you can hear the Frio flowing in the background. It just doesn’t get any better than that. The sky is an endless blue with perfectly placed white clouds rolling by. And as you take a deep breathe all that hits your nostrils is the clean, crisp air and at that moment all the memories of summers spent at Garner come flooding back.

A time of family and friends floating the river, sitting around the campfire (b/c you know no matter what the temp outside no camping trip is complete without a campfire), and sharing meals served in paper plates. It’s one of those few places where old and young can have fun together doing the exact same things. Where the family is actually together instead of everybody running off to do their own things. And where the whole day can be summed up by “heat up - cool down”. A place that for those few days you can honestly and completely forget your busy life that you left behind and just float on the river, or lay in a chair, or skip rocks or whatever you feel like doing that day.

The years have passed and all our children are grown. When one day, a couple of them came to us and said,” We are ready to continue the tradition of camping at Garner State Park.” We do not want our children to miss out on something that has meant so much to us. In the fast paced world of today it is still the same. Children only ask for small things, not hi-tech toys, designer clothes etc…..just TIME. Time can not be bought with money. Garner State Park gave us that time. Friends and family alike all looked forward to the time we would pack the tent, chairs, foods, etc…. and head for the (cold) Frio river. August will not get her fast enough. As my 5 year old grandson would say,”Don’t forget to bring Candy Land and the Uno cards for night time around the campfire.”